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Scott Shannon Joins WCBS-FM

Update 2/25: Following the leak, CBS made the move official this morning. Scott Shannon will join WCBS-FM for mornings beginning on Monday, March 3.

Original Report 2/24: A leaked post on Classic Hits 101.1 WCBS-FM New York’s website reveals that Scott Shannon will join the station for mornings on Monday, March 3.

Shannon, who “retired” from Cumulus Hot AC 95.5 WPLJ earlier this month, will take the morning slot currently filled by Dan Taylor. Taylor will slide into the 10am-3pm slot currently held by Ron Parker.

Shannon will be joined by meteorologist Irv ‘Mr. G’ Gikofsky and traffic reporter Joe Nolan. Nolan was a longtime contributor to Shannon’s show on WPLJ.

CBS RADIO station WCBS-FM 101.1 has named Scott Shannon as its new weekday morning drive host (Monday-Friday 6:00-10:00AM), it was announced today by Program Director, Jim Ryan. The appointment is effective on Monday, March 3.

“Scott Shannon in the Morning” will also feature Mr. G providing weather reports, and Joe Nolan with all the latest traffic information for morning commuters.

“Not often does a legendary morning drive personality become available with the experience of waking up New Yorkers for more than 25 years,” said Don Bouloukos, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, CBS RADIO New York. “CBS-FM is a heritage station, and the perfect place for Hall Of Famer Scott Shannon. We are thrilled to welcome Scott and his award-winning personality to CBS-FM and the CBS RADIO family.”

The station’s local weekday line-up continues with Dan Taylor in middays (10:00AM-3:00PM), Broadway Bill Lee from 3:00-7:00PM, Brooklyn’s Own Joe Causi from 7:00PM-12:00AM, and Dave Stewart from 12:00-6:00AM. CBS-FM, consistently one of New York’s most popular radio stations, is available on-air at 101.1FM, online at cbsfm.com and through the Radio.com app for a variety of mobile devices.

Added Ryan, “We’ve assembled an enormously talented team to help listeners start their day off right, with all the authenticity and character of a great local New York radio show. That theme continues throughout the day with an ensemble of proven personalities who are beloved by the audience. This is one of the strongest lineups in all of radio.”

Shannon’s Hall of Fame radio career has spanned in excess of four decades with more than 25 of those spent doing mornings in New York. He is credited with developing the Morning Zoo format which he brought to WHTZ in the early 80’s, and helped make the station No. 1. His next stop in New York was WPLJ where he co-hosted the Scott and Todd in the Morning program. Shannon spent 22 years at the station, helping reshape adult morning radio, and enjoying ratings success throughout the years.

He has received accolades from many respected broadcast industry institutions including:

WCBS-FM 101.1 plays New York’s Greatest Hits from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s from artists including The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Elton John, Billy Joel, Bee Gees and many more. WCBS-FM is owned and operated by CBS RADIO, one of the largest broadcast media operators in the United States. A division of CBS Corporation, CBS RADIO also operates WCBS-AM, WFAN-AM/FM, WINS-AM, WNOW-FM and WWFS-FM in New York. For more information on CBS RADIO, please visit http://www.cbsradio.com.

CBS-FM took the article down but not before Inside Music Media (Jerry Del Colliano’s site) and All Access picked up on it.

Scott Shannon should easily bring his old PLJ audience to CBS-FM. Now CBS Radio has to make the station listenable again. Tighten the format (no lengthy DJ chatter outside mornings). Refocus the music — more 80’s pop, less rock. Finally, shorten the endless ad breaks!

interesting quotes he said, “i guess no one has ever retired just from a radio station before.” and “i was in talks with CC, but my stipulation was no politics.” Scott shannon was only a part of one failed experiment so i think him smart enough not to do the same. regarding the overall format presentation to CBS fm, while there are legitimate concerns, they do well ratings wise, and especially after jacking the format, they won’t be quick to make any changes unless it truly feels like something New York needs. The format transition of cbs fm will unfortunately be for the company, the worst broadcast decision made in history, even worse than free fm. “i’m done with programming”

dj Dan, I hope that’s true, because younger people like me aren’t willing to put up with that bs. I’m not a puppet, especially if I’m a local community activist, building my own personal relationships. Just because its a public forum and they could lose ad dollars from someone crossing the street, doesn’t mean its good practice. Here’s the way I see it, if non compete is illegal, so should piping someone in from another market without first informing the listeners you’re doing so.